Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, ‘‘We would like to underline that particularly the rumors of imposition of a state of emergency, curfew or travel restrictions do not reflect the truth, and such comprehensive restrictive measures are not on our agenda.’’
In his statement, Altun noted that the fight against coronavirus was being carried out in the utmost transparent, resolute and reasonable manner.
Emphasizing that as the state, in order to keep the spread of the virus in the country at a minimum level, they were working day and night, Altun underlined that they evaluated every opinion, advice and complaint in the most rational way during this period, and prioritized the solution-oriented approaches.
Expressing that they were encouraged by the sensitivity of the citizens at every stage of the struggle, Altun indicated that another aspect of the fight against the virus that required utmost sensitivity was communication.
Pointing out that it was especially important to prevent disinformation in an atmosphere where means of communications were used in such an effective manner, Altun said,
"Since the first day the issue of the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) went up on Turkey’s agenda of priorities, we have observed that rumors of some particularly restrictive measures to be taken were intentionally brought to the fore on both the social media and conventional media. We would like to underline that particularly the rumors of imposition of a state of emergency, curfew or travel restrictions do not reflect the truth, and such comprehensive restrictive measures are not on our agenda. With the awareness of our responsibility to protect the freedoms of our people as well as their health and security in this fight under the leadership of our President, we would like to kindly request that our citizens do not give credit to any news, information, speculation, or rumor unless confirmed by official sources."